Note that the 0.15% fee for Apple Pay is paid by the banks issuing the card, and I assume it sufficiently reduces chargebacks since the banks are happy to offer Apple Pay.
That is not a proper accounting of this situation.
Suppose the chargebacks due to fraud/whatever without Apple Pay cost the issuing banks 0.20%.
Then the banks reduce their expenses by paying Apple 0.15%.
Maybe it helps reduce customer service calls and the associated expenses. Maybe Apple results in higher total spend. I’m sure the leaders at JPM, BoA, Wells Fargo, etc have done the calculations to figure out that it is better for them to pay Apple than to not.
And since it is not required for any bank to allow Apple Pay to work with their cards, it stands to reason that in a competitive market like credit cards, it doesn’t result in an increase in end user prices.
